NCJ Number
163771
Journal
Practicing Anthropology Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1992) Pages: 25- 28
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The city of Greenbelt, Md. has operated a youth services bureau for the past 18 years and has used the author, an anthropologist, as its evaluation consultant for an even longer period.
Abstract
Greenbelt CARES Youth Services Bureau provides formal and informal counseling, crisis intervention, suicide prevention, drug education and prevention, referral services, a tutoring program, school personnel training, and other services. Two-thirds of the services are supplied by qualified volunteers who receive continuous training, technical support, and feedback from a group of peers and mentors. The organization decided that an anthropological viewpoint would be more useful to process and outcome evaluations than one more narrowly focused on survey material. The evaluator searches for gaps in theory, makes suggestions for addressing them, provides an institutional memory, and serves as a relatively unbiased analyst involved in ongoing program, staff, and other issues. The evaluator makes certain that the program measures exactly what it is doing and offers advice on future directions based on the findings of the evaluations. The evaluator works 24 hours per month, apportioned as needed throughout the month and year. Photographs